B.C. Government Tells You To 'Stuff Your Stockings With B.C. Coal'

Someone on the B.C. government media team is working extra hard on pushing the holiday spirit. Case in point: a news release that advises you to "stuff your stockings with B.C. coal."

"No matter whether you light the menorah, trim the tree or setup the Festivus Pole, your holiday activities likely have a connection to a lump of coal mined right here in British Columbia," begins the missive, issued on Saturday.

Er, what?

Try to follow along. Apparently, the transportation we use to send holiday gifts, as well as the physical stores where they're sold, require steel, which is made using metallurgical coal — a lot of which comes from B.C. (More than 28 million tonnes of were exported rom B.C. in 2013.)

Got it so far?

“Most people don’t think of coal when they go shopping for gifts, but the fact is without the coal that is mined right here in British Columbia, we wouldn't have access to things like smartphones, cars or even shopping malls," Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett said in the release.

"British Columbians can take pride in knowing that no matter the product or where it was made, it probably wouldn't exist without B.C. coal.”

See, you guys? B.C. resources are basically the whole reason for Christmas. Someone call Santa and tell him he owes us some serious loot.